The Lowry Steps, Aspin Lane, Manchester -
Watching Brief

Abstract

In November 2013, SPIE Garside Laycock, acting on behalf of Manchester City Council, commissioned Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) to undertake a limited programme of archaeological investigation in Angel Meadow Park in the Shudehill area of Manchester (centred on NGR 384439 399212). The archaeological work was required to inform a scheme of refurbishment, which allows for the renewal of the public access known as the Lowry Steps from Aspin Lane to St Michael’s Flags and Angel Meadow Park.
The study area was largely undeveloped land in 1786, when it was purchased by the Overseers of the Poor of Manchester, with the intention of creating a burial ground. This was to service the new working-class population in the area, and soon comprised mass burial pits for the poor, which have been estimated to contain 30,000 - 40,000 unmarked inhumations. The cemetery was full by 1815, after which the area became notorious for activities such as cock-fighting and gambling. In the 1850s, it was flagged over to prevent further illegal excavations, and the area became known subsequently as St Michael’s Flags.